The State of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection announces that it will hold public hearings on proposed rules
to repeal ch.
ATCP 56, and to repeal and recreate ch.
ATCP 55, relating to meat and meat food products. The department will hold three hearings at the time and places shown below. The department invites the public to attend the hearings and comment on the proposed rules. Following the public hearing, the hearing record will remain open until July 6, 2001, for additional written comments.
You may obtain a free copy of this rule by contacting the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Division of Food Safety, 2811 Agriculture Drive, P.O. Box 8911, Madison WI 53708, or by calling (608) 224-4726. Copies will also be available at the hearings.
Hearing impaired persons may request an interpreter for these hearing. Please make reservations for a hearing interpreter by June 12, 2001, by writing to Carol Winner, Division of Food Safety, P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI 53708-8911, telephone (608) 224-4726. Alternatively, you may contact the Department TDD at (608) 224-5058. Handicap access is available at the hearings.
Hearings are scheduled at:
Tuesday June 19, 2001, 10:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Green Bay State Office Building
200 North Jefferson Street
Room 152-A
Green Bay, WI 54301
Handicapped accessible
Wednesday, June 20, 2001, 10:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
WDATCP Regional Office
3610 Oakwood Hills Parkway
Eau Claire, WI 54701-7754
Handicapped accessible
Friday, June 22, 2001, 10:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
Board Room
2811 Agriculture Drive
Madison, WI 53718
Handicapped accessible
Analysis Prepared by the Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
This rule repeals and recreates Wisconsin's current meat inspection rules. This rule incorporates major federal law changes affecting Wisconsin's meat inspection program, and repeals current rule provisions made obsolete by the new federal requirements. It also updates, reorganizes and clarifies current state rules.
Background
The United States department of agriculture (“USDA") administers the federal meat inspection program, which is designed to ensure that meat used for human food is safe, wholesome and properly labeled. The Wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection (“DATCP") administers a similar meat inspection program for the state of Wisconsin. USDA provides 50% funding for Wisconsin's program. Under federal law, Wisconsin's program must be “at least equal to" the federal program.
Federal and state meat inspection programs have traditionally regulated the production and sale of meat from domesticated food animals such as cattle, swine and poultry. In recent years, they have also begun to regulate the production and sale of meat from other animals, such as farm-raised deer, ratites, captive game animals and captive game birds. The federal program regulates meat sold in interstate commerce. The state program focuses on meat produced and sold within Wisconsin, often by smaller meat establishments.
Animals must be slaughtered subject to state or federal inspection if their meat is sold for human consumption. Slaughter inspection includes ante mortem inspection of live animals and post mortem inspection of carcasses. Slaughter and processing operations must comply with sanitation standards. Meat must bear official inspection marks or legends, and must comply with other labeling requirements.
Federally inspected meat may be sold between states. State-inspected meat may be sold in Wisconsin, but federal law prohibits the sale of state-inspected meat to other states. This prohibition does not apply to state-inspected meat from captive game.
Congress and USDA recently overhauled the entire federal meat inspection program. They replaced the old system, based mainly on visual inspection, with a new “hazard analysis critical control point" (HACCP) system that includes pathogen testing. Wisconsin's meat inspection program must conform to the new federal standards. In the last biennial budget act (
1999 Wis. Act 9), the Wisconsin legislature incorporated the new federal standards by reference under s.
97.42 (4m), Stats.
This rule repeals and recreates DATCP's current meat inspection rules, based on the new federal requirements. It also reorganizes and clarifies current rules. This rule updates current rules related to meat establishment licensing, slaughter inspection, slaughter and processing standards, custom slaughter and processing, mobile custom slaughter and processing, meat labeling, and the production of meat from non-traditional sources such as captive game animals and captive game birds.
Rule Contents
Coverage
This rule applies to persons who slaughter animals for human consumption, or who process, store, transport, sell or distribute meat for human consumption. But this rule does not apply to any of the following:
• Restaurants, vending machine commissaries or catering establishments, regulated by the Wisconsin department of health and family services or its agents, that sell meat only in meals that they serve.
•Federally inspected slaughter or processing establishments.
• Persons slaughtering their own animals, or processing or transporting their own meat, for their own personal or household consumption.
Definitions
This rule defines some important terms used in the rule, including the following:
• “Food animals" means all the following:
□ “Domesticated food animals." This includes cattle, swine, poultry (domesticated chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, guinea fowl and squab), sheep, goats, farm-raised deer (not captive white-tail deer) and horses.
□“
Ratites." This includes ostriches and emus.
□
“Captive game animals." This includes bison, white-tail deer and other animals of a normally wild type that are produced in captivity for slaughter and consumption. It does not include farm-raised deer, ratites, captive game birds, fish, or game animals kept solely for hunting purposes at a hunting preserve.
□
“Captive game birds." This includes farm-raised game birds, such as pheasants, quail, wild turkeys, waterfowl and exotic birds, which are produced in captivity for slaughter and consumption. It does not include poultry or ratites. Nor does it include game birds kept solely for hunting purposes in a hunting preserve.
•“Meat" means the edible muscle and other edible parts of a food animal.
•“
Meat establishment" means an establishment used to slaughter food animals for human consumption, or to process the meat of food animals for human consumption.
• “Custom slaughter" or “custom processing" means slaughter or processing services provided to an individual who already owns the affected food animal or meat, and who uses the resulting meat products solely for his or her personal or household consumption. The service provider does not sell meat to the service recipient, but merely provides a service for hire.
• “Mobile custom slaughter" or “mobile custom processing" means custom slaughter or processing services provided at the recipient's premises (typically a farm), rather than at a meat establishment.
Licensed Meat Establishments
This rule clarifies current meat establishment licensing requirements. Under this rule, no person may operate a meat establishment without a current annual license from DATCP. But no license is required for any of the following:
• Federally inspected slaughter or processing operations.
• Mobile custom slaughter or mobile custom processing operations. A person engaged in mobile custom slaughter or mobile custom processing operations must hold an annual registration certificate from DATCP (see below) if the person does not hold a meat establishment license.
• The custom slaughter or custom processing of captive game animals or captive game birds.
• A farmer who slaughters and processes, for sale at his or her farm, not more than 1,000 poultry per year produced on that farm. The poultry must be labeled “NOT INSPECTED."
•A retail establishment that processes meat primarily for sale to consumers at the retail establishment, provided that all the following apply:
□ The retail establishment is not engaged in slaughter operations.
□ The retail establishment sells its processed meat only to consumers at the retail establishment, or to restaurants or institutions for use in meals served at those restaurants or institutions.
□ The retail establishment's sales of its processed meat to restaurants or institutions do not exceed $28,800 annually, or 25% by dollar volume of its total annual meat sales, whichever amount is less.
□ The retail establishment receives meat only from state licensed or federally inspected meat establishments.
□ The retail establishment does not combine meat from different species for sale to restaurants or institutions.
□ The retail establishment does not cure, smoke, season, can or cook any meat for sale to restaurants or institutions.
Meat Establishment License Fees
This rule clarifies current meat establishment licensing procedures, and incorporates current license fees without change. A meat establishment operator must pay an annual license fee of $200, except that the annual fee is $80 if the license holder is solely engaged in custom slaughter or custom processing operations.
Meat Establishments Processing Wild Game
Generally speaking, a meat establishment may not slaughter or process animals other than food animals. However, a meat establishment may custom process legally harvested wild game (such as legally hunted white-tail deer) for the game owner if all the following apply:
•The meat establishment operator notifies DATCP. DATCP may restrict wild game processing that is incompatible with the slaughter or processing of food animals at the same establishment.
•The operator accepts only clean and apparently wholesome wild game carcasses for custom processing.
•The operator, when custom processing wild game, complies with processing, labeling and record keeping requirements applicable to the custom processing of food animals. Among other things, the operator must label all of the resulting wild game products “NOT FOR SALE."
•The operator processes wild game only at times when the operator is not slaughtering or processing food animals.
•
The operator cleans and sanitizes equipment used to process wild game before using that equipment to slaughter or process food animals.
•The operator keeps wild game and wild game products separate from all other meat and meat food products in the meat establishment.
•The operator clearly labels wild game products, so they cannot be confused with other meat or meat food products. Wild game products must be clearly identified by species.
•
The operator handles, processes and stores wild game and wild game products in a manner that prevents contamination of other meat and meat food products.
Slaughter Inspection Required
Under this rule, no person may sell any meat from any food animal unless the animal is slaughtered subject to state or federal inspection. This does not apply to any of the following:
• Custom slaughtering or custom processing (because there is no sale of meat).
• A poultry farmer selling meat from not more than 1,000 of his or her poultry each year, provided the poultry are labeled “NOT INSPECTED."
• Captive game animals or captive game birds for which no inspection standards exist. This exemption is very limited, because DATCP and USDA have established inspection standards for most captive game animals and captive game birds.
Federal law prohibits the sale of state-inspected meat to other states. But this prohibition does not apply to state-inspected meat from captive game animals, captive game birds or farm-raised deer.
Slaughter Inspection Services
DATCP provides slaughter inspection services only to licensed meat establishments. A meat establishment operator requesting inspection services must specify a proposed slaughter schedule. In order to use its inspection staff most efficiently, DATCP may require a different schedule. The operator may not deviate from the established schedule without DATCP approval.
Ante mortem and post mortem slaughter inspections must be performed at a licensed meat establishment, except that DATCP may agree to perform a field ante mortem inspection on any of the following:
• Apparently healthy farm-raised deer or
captive game animals that cannot be safely or humanely transported to a licensed meat establishment for ante mortem inspection.
• Apparently healthy domesticated food animals, if special circumstances prevent the transportation of those animals to a licensed meat establishment for ante mortem inspection.
DATCP may not perform field ante mortem inspections of diseased animals, or animals that cannot stand or walk. Ante mortem inspections of those animals must be performed at properly equipped meat establishments (see below).
Slaughter Inspection Charges
DATCP will provide slaughter inspection services without charge to a licensed meat establishment operator, except that DATCP will charge the operator for the inspection services if any of the following apply:
• The inspection pertains to a captive game animal or captive game bird.
